Skin care is not a modern idea, it has been around for thousands of years. The big distinction is that we have changed from traditional herbal skin care to synthetic or chemical based products over the last one hundred years.
Why we abandoned traditional herbal skin care is not completely clear, in fact there may be several reasons. A hundred years ago, people were mesmerized by the sciences. They were seen as new, a break-through, the saviour of mankind’s health, an emergence from darkness and old-fashioned ways, despite the fact that a lack of regulation led to thousands of sham claims for wonder drugs, lotions and potions.
Another reason could be that millions of people moved from the countryside, where they could gather herbs and spices while they were out working in the fields, to the city, where they had to work eight to ten hours a day in a factory and no longer had the chance to make their own herbal skin care products.
These days there is a shift back to herbal skin care products. Some people prepare their own herbal skin care products and others kid themselves by buying chemical skin care products with wording such as ‘with added lemon’ in a half-hearted endeavor to ‘go herbal’.
Commercial herbal products have to have a long self life because they are normally manufactured hundreds of miles away from where they are sold. In order to accomplish this, they have to contain preservatives and this lowers the effectiveness of the preparation. The unfortunate fact is that, despite a growing public interest in herbal skin care, people are disinclined to make their own, so they continue to buy commercial, chemical, skin care merchandise.
So, if you would like to learn more about making your own herbal skin care products, where do you begin?
Aloe Vera – is a succulent, a hot climate plant that grows extensively around the world. It can be used by snapping a leaf and rubbing the juice straight onto cuts, bruises, burns and dry skin. In Thailand, where aloe vera grows wild everywhere, people also use it for bites and stings and practically any skin trouble.
Banana and Avocado – are well-known for their skin care quality. They are good for moisturizing dry skin.
Dandelion, chamomile, rosemary and lime flowers can be used as skin cleansers. Make an infusion with boiling water and rub on with a flannel.
Lavender, marigold, thyme and fennel are strong antiseptics. Again soak in boiling water and apply with cotton wool.
Lavender water and rose water are excellent skin toners.
Herbal skin care products can be manufactured very easily at home, but people are sceptical because we have been trained, brainwashed, to buy commercial products by hundreds of billions of dollars of advertising over the last one hundred years – that is four generations. That sort of influence will be hard to shift, but you can make your own herbal skin care products and you should try at least one.
So, pick a form of herbal skin care that you would like to test and switch to making your own from a recipe that you can find on the Internet. If that works, and why should it not, then you can try another herbal skin care product.
Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is at present concerned with dry skin products. If you are interested in Natural Face Products, please go to our web site now.